April 21

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April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). There are 254 days remaining.

Events

• 753 BC - Romulus founds Rome (traditional).
• 1792 - Tiradentes, a revolutionary who was leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged.
• 1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of San Jacinto – Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
• 1863 - Bahá'u'lláh declares his mission as "He whom God shall make manifest". Considered the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.
• 1863 - Quantrill's Raiders launch a reprisal raid Lawrence, Kansas in the Battle of Lawrence, killing a number of civilians.
• 1894 - Norway formally adopts the Krag-Jørgensen rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.
• 1912 - The New York Giants and New York Yankees play an exhibition game to benefit survivors of the RMS Titanic.
• 1918 - World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as "The Red Baron," is shot down and killed by Allied fire over Vaux sur Somme in France.
• 1930 - A fire at a Columbus, Ohio, USA, penitentiary kills 320 people.
• 1944 - Women in France receive the right to vote.
• 1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.
• 1952 - Secretaries Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.
• 1955 - Bob Hope's radio program airs its last segment.
• 1956 - Elvis Presley's song "Heartbreak Hotel" becomes the "King's" first song to reach the top of the Cash Box magazine [1] music charts.
• 1960 - Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 9:30 am the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
• 1960 - Founding of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith in Washington, DC.
• 1965 - The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.
• 1966 - Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.
• 1967 - A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
• 1985 - Ayrton Senna wins the first of 41 Formula One championship races at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril.
• 1986 - Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's vault on live television and finds nothing.
• 1987 - The Tamil Tigers is blamed for a car bomb that explodes in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, killing 106 people.
• 1989 - Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the late Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
• 1992 - U.S. death penalty: After 13 years on death row, convicted murderer Robert Alton Harris is executed in California's gas chamber.
• 1994 - The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.
• 2005 - John Negroponte becomes the first United States Director of National Intelligence.

Births

• 1555 - Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter (d. 1619)
• 1651 - Blessed Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (d. 1711)
• 1652 - Michel Rolle, French mathematician (d. 1719)
• 1671 - John Law, Scottish economist (d. 1729)
• 1713 - Louis, 4th duc de Noailles, Marshal of France (d. 1793)
• 1729 - Empress Catherine II of Russia (d. 1796)
• 1774 - Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (d. 1862)
• 1775 - Alexander Anderson, American wood-engraver and illustrator (d. 1870)
• 1810 - John Putnam Chapin, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1864)
• 1811 - Alson Sherman, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1903)
• 1814 - Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, English philanthropist (d. 1906)
• 1816 - Charlotte Brontë, English author (d. 1855)
• 1837 - Fredrik Bajer, Danish politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1922)
• 1838 - John Muir, American environmentalist (d. 1914)
• 1851 - Charles Barrois, French geologist (d. 1939)
• 1864 - Max Weber, German economist and sociologist (d. 1920)
• 1879 - Kartini, Indonesian national heroine (d. 1904)
• 1882 - Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
• 1889 - Paul Karrer, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1905 - Pat Brown, American politician (d. 1996)
• 1911 - Ivan Combe, American inventor (d. 2000)
• 1912 - Marcel Camus, French film director (d. 1982)
• 1915 - Anthony Quinn, Mexican-born actor (d. 2001)
• 1919 - Don Cornell, American singer (d. 2004)
• 1922 - Alistair MacLean, Scottish author (d. 1987)
• 1923 - John Mortimer, English barrister and writer
• 1926 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
• 1927 - Gerald Flood, British actor (d. 1989)
• 1930 - Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (d. 1989)
• 1932 - Elaine May, American comedienne, writer, director, and actress
• 1935 - Charles Grodin, American actor and journalist
• 1935 - Thomas Kean, Governor of New Jersey
• 1936 - James Dobson, American evangelist
• 1939 - Helen Prejean, American nun and writer
• 1947 - Iggy Pop, American musician (The Stooges)
• 1948 - Gary Condit, American politician
• 1949 - Patti Lupone, American singer and actress
• 1951 - Tony Danza, American actor and talk show host
• 1951 - Michael Hartley Freedman, American mathematician
• 1951 - Steve Vickers, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1958 - Andie MacDowell, American actress
• 1959 - Gene Callahan, American writer
• 1959 - Robert Smith, British musician, singer, and songwriter (The Cure)
• 1960 - Michel Goulet, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1963 - Ken Caminiti, baseball player (d. 2004)
• 1963 - Roy Dupuis, Canadian actor
• 1964 - Ludmila Engquist, Russian-born Swedish athlete
• 1965 - Ed Belfour, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 - Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedienne, and writer
• 1970 - Rob Riggle, American comedian
• 1971 - Eric Mabius, American actor
• 1977 - Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater
• 1978 - Jukka Nevalainen, drummer of Finnish heavy metal band Nightwish
• 1980 - Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian hockey player
• 1982 - Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, American football player

Deaths

• 748 - Empress Gensho of Japan (b. 680)
• 1073 - Pope Alexander II
• 1109 - Anselm of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1142 - Pierre Abélard, French writer (b. 1079)
• 1329 - Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1282)
• 1509 - King Henry VII of England (b. 1457)
• 1551 - Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
• 1557 - Petrus Apianus, German mathematician (b. 1495)
• 1574 - Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1519)
• 1699 - Jean Racine, French dramatist (b. 1639)
• 1701 - Asano Naganori, Japanese warlord (b. 1667)
• 1719 - Philippe de la Hire, French mathematician and historian (b. 1640)
• 1720 - Antoine Hamilton, French writer (b. 1646)
• 1793 - John Michell, English seismologist (b. 1724)
• 1815 - Joseph Winston, U.S. Congressman from North Carolina (b. 1746)
• 1868 - Henry James O'Farrell, Australian would-be assassin of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (Hanged)
• 1910 - Mark Twain, American author and humorist (b. 1835)
• 1918 - Manfred von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1892)
• 1924 - Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)
• 1930 - Robert Bridges, English poet (b. 1844)
• 1938 - Allama Iqbal, Indian philosopher and poet (b. 1877)
• 1946 - John Maynard Keynes, English economist (b. 1883)
• 1956 - Charles MacArthur, American writer (b. 1895)
• 1965 - Edward Victor Appleton, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
• 1971 - François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, Haitian dictator (b. 1907)
• 1973 - Arthur Fadden, thirteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
• 1977 - Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1892)
• 1978 - Sandy Denny, British vocalist (b. 1947)
• 1978 - Thomas Wyatt Turner, American civil rights advocate and agricultural engineer
• 1980 - Aleksandr Oparin, Russian biochemist (b. 1894)
• 1983 - Walter Slezak, Austrian actor (b. 1902)
• 1985 - Rudi Gernreich, Austrian fashion designer (b. 1922)
• 1985 - Tancredo de Almeida Neves, Brazil banker and politician (b. 1910)
• 1989 - Princess Dukhye of Korea (b. 1912)
• 1990 - Erté, French artist (b. 1892)
• 1991 - Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (b. 1909)
• 1996 - Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen leader (b. 1944)
• 1996 - Jimmy the Greek, American bookie and sports broadcaster (b. 1919)
• 1999 - Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, American actor and musician (b. 1904)
• 2000 - Neal Matthews, Jr., American singer (b. 1929)
• 2003 - Nina Simone, American singer and pianist (b. 1933)
• 2004 - Mary McGrory, American journalist (b. 1918)
• 2005 - Gerry Marshall, Britsh Racer (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

• Bahá'í Faith - First day of the festival of Ridván
• Roman Empire - the Parilia was held in honor of Pales
• Rome - city birthday
• United States - Administrative Professionals Day
• Sunni Islam - Mawlid, Prophet Muhammad's birthday (2005)

External links

• BBC: On This Day

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